Beaumont Remote Encoding Center to Close in November 2007
From Postal Reporter reader:
NEWS RELEASE FROM U.S. POSTAL SERVICE:
Technology Enhancements Prompt Postal Service To Close Remote Encoding Center
(BEAUMONT, TX) —The U.S. Postal Service today announced that the Beaumont Remote Encoding Center (REC) will be closed as part the next phase of a nationwide consolidation plan. The facility, located at 750 Pearl Street will close in November, 2007.
“The Remote Encoding Centers were designed as a temporary solution to automate and expedite the processing of handwritten and poorly printed addresses,” said Danny Smith, manager for the Beaumont REC. “The plan from the start was to downsize the REC operation as technology enhancements enabled us to automate more mail.”
In 1994, when the Beaumont REC and 54 others were established, postal computerized sorting equipment could only read two percent of addresses on handwritten envelopes. Since that time, with new technology improvements, postal computers are currently able to read and process 93 percent of the mail electronically.
Smith said the decision to close the Beaumont REC was based on a variety of business factors, including operating costs, facility costs, lease expiration dates and the ability of other RECs to absorb the workload. The Beaumont closing, and the previous closings since the consolidation process began in 1999, mean that the number of RECs will decline to nine.
The Postal Service is providing the REC employees with six months notice of the closings. The 344 career postal employees at the Beaumont REC will be reassigned to other postal positions in accordance with national collective bargaining agreements. The 549 part-time temporary employees will receive outplacement counseling to help them find new employment.
The remote encoding process involves transmitting electronic images of handwritten mail from mail processing plants to RECs where operators view them on computer screens and key in address information. This information is transmitted back to the postal processing plant where a barcode corresponding to the address is printed on the envelope so that it can be processed on automated equipment. With ever-increasing improvements in optical character recognition technology, the volume of images sent to RECs has diminished significantly and the Postal Service has gradually consolidated them. As technology evolves, the Postal Service will continue to look for opportunities to reduce operating costs and these opportunities will likely include additional REC consolidations in coming years.
Dave Lewin
Communications Programs Specialist
Southwest Area Public Affairs and Communications
Related Links:
Congressman Poe’s Statement on Beaumont Postal Facility Closing
US Postal Service Employees Worried About Losing Their Jobs
May 4th, 2007 at 2:17 pm
We are NOT getting six months. We’ve been told they will start getting us out of there in half that time. More government lies.
May 5th, 2007 at 8:07 am
The Beaumont Remote Encoding Center was ranked #3 in cost per thousand performance - far better than many other Encoding Centers that were not selected for closing. The real issue of concern was the interruption of encoding service caused by natural disasters like hurricanes.
All Encoding Centers located in probable hurricane zones have been selected for closing. Postal Service management apparently believes it is not cost effective to invest in contingency restoration systems.
It is a disappointing and hard to accept that the decision to close the Beaumont Remote Encoding Center had nothing to do with productivity and economics - rather simply the geographical location susceptibily to hurricanes. I wonder why the Postal Service back in 1994 chose to open the facility in the first place?
The employees of Beaumont Remote Encoding Center will be hard pressed to relocate and find alternative employment when the facility closes in November 2007. The Beaumont General Mail Facility, located ten-miles away, is rumored to be subject for closing as well. Most of the Beaumont Encoding employees will have to decide to move to Houston which is 100-miles away.
Relocation assistance by the Postal Service will only be provided to those employees who stubbornly hold-out and maintain their involuntary status. Those who choose to voluntarily relocate during summer vacation to move their families will do so at their own expense.
Why the Encoding Center closing decisions are not subject to review is a poignant question. When the military announces base closings there is a commission that reviews those decisions. I think the Postal Service should be obligated to explain their decisions more fully than obfuscated remarks like “the plan from the start was to downsize the REC operation as technology enhancements enabled us to automate more mail.”
November 7th, 2007 at 8:43 pm
I work at the Wichita, KS REC, and we picked up a lot of the Beaumont guys, and they say that Wichita is heaven compared to Beaumont, so just come here. It’s a recently renovated facility, too. Some of the equipment even works. LOL